Metal fencepost



jufly 8 ,1924. 1,500,135

R. c. KNOPKE METAL FENCEPOST Filed April 17. 1919 M 1 L 5 A? r f WRAYMOND G. KNOPKE, OF WHEATON, ILLINOIS.

IHE'IAL FENCEPOST.

Application filed April 17, 1919. Serial No. 290,816.

To all whom it may concern: chor positioned in the soil or earth. Fig.

Be it known that I, RAYMOND C. KNoPKE, 6 'is "a face view of a modifiedform of ana citizen of the United States, and a resichor plate embodyingmy invention, and dent of \Vheaton, county of Du Page, and Fig. 7 is asectional view substantially on 5 State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new the line 77 of Fig. 6.

and useful Improvements in Metal F ence- In Fig. 1, I have shown twoposts, 1, as posts, of which the following is a specificathey appearlooking at the face thereof tion. when driven into the ground or earth,2.

My invention relates generally to im- Upon the posts 1, and suitablysupported 10 provements in fence posts, but relates more thereby will befound the fencing material particularly to; improvements in metal 3,which in the present instance is indicated fence posts of the typegenerally used for as the ordinary barbed wire fencing, but supportingwire fencing. which obviously may be wires of other In wire fences aconsiderable upward forms or wire netting to fit the particular 15 pullis exerted upon the post, particularly requirements.

upon those posts which are placed in the The particular character of thebody of valleys or depressions. It is of course imthe post does not forma part of the invenportant that the post resist any such uption and itwill not therefore be described ward pull and that it be anchored firmlyin detail. I wish to state, however, that I 20 in place against allforces tending to reprefer to use a metal post of T or L shape move it.in cross section, the construction of the post The general object of myinvention is to proper being such as will yield the greatest provide ametallic post which shall serve strength with the use of the leastmetal. as a proper support for the wiring or fenc- The amount of themetal required is a large 25 ing; that shall be adapted to be driveninto item which will be understood from the fact the ground without thenecessity of first that posts of this kind are used by the milprovidinga post hole; that when so driven lions and that a relatively smallsaving in shall be firmly anchored in place and shall a single post inthe aggregate is of great effectually resist forces tending to displacemoment. 30 or remove the same; and which shall have It is with respectto the anchor plate 4 the anchoring means so formed that relathat myinvention is particularly concerned tively thin-gage metal shall besuflicient to and wherein I have rovided a novel st'ruc withstand thetremendous forces to which ture which serves effectually to hold or anitis subjected when being driven into the chor the post in the ground andwhich at 9 ground. the same time is so formed as to permit My inventionconsists generally in the driving of the post into the ground withoutform, arrangement, construction and coopthe necessity of first formingor digging a eration of the parts whereby the above post hole. I have sodesigned the anchor named objects, together with others that plate. thatvery thin gauge metal may be 40 will appearhereinafter, are attainableand utilized and at the same time furnish the my invention will be morereadily understrength requisite to withstand the displacstood byreference to the accompanying ing, bending and deforming action metwithdrawings wherein I have illustrated that when the post is driven intoground. The embodiment of my invention which I conanchor plate l isprovided with side cutsider to be the best. at the present time. tingedges 5 and 6, with a bottom cutting In said drawings: Fig. 1 is avertical edge 7, and with a top edge 8. The form elevation of a sectionor portion of fencthat the side bottom cutting edges takes may ingcontaining metallic posts embodying be varied to a considerable extentand the my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged ele form shown in Figs. 1and 2 is of the form 50 vat-ion of the lower part of the postshowdisclosed in my Patent No. 1,2326% of ing the construction of theanchor. Fig. August 21,1917. The plate 1, in that form 3 is a sectionalview substantially on the disclosed in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive is proline33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a sectional vided with integrally offset.portions 9, 10, view of the anchor substantially on the line 11 and 12,the portions 9 and 10 being upon 55 l4- of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a viewsimilar to opposite sides: of the post 1 and the por- Fig. 3, butillustrating the post and antion 9 being formed or bumped inwar ly andthe portion 10 outwardly. The portion 11 is bumped outwardly in thepresent instance and the portion 12 is bumped or formed inwardly. By'this disposition of the offset portions and the forming of certainportions thereof outwardly and others thereof inwardly, an arrangementis provided which enables the post to be driven into the earth straight,sincethe various forces tending to change the course of the post areneutralized. These offset portions 9, 10, 11 and 12 are preferablygently curved from the plane of the face of the plate, so that they mayoffer but a minimum of resistance when the post is driven into theearth. After the post is driven into the earth and has remained therefor a. short time, the earth naturally finds its way into the variouspockets or recesses formed by the offset portions and packs into placein a manner that forms a very powerful anchorage such as will resist anyupward, as Well as downward strains to which the post in practice issubjected The offset portions 9, 10, 11 and 12 serve another veryimportant and useful function and that is, by way of strengthening theanchor plate 4 and making it into such a rigid form that even arelatively thin plate sufiices to withstand twisting, bending and otherforces imposed upon the plate in service. The offset portions are alsopreferably of arcuate or curved form to the end that the maximum ofstrength may be realized by the bulge or offset formation and to the endthat a gentle undulatory surface may result, which will offer a minimumof resistance to the passage of the plate when being driven into theground.

I wish it to be understood, however, that the anchor plate need notnecessarily be formed as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive, and that thenumber, shape and disposition of the offset portions may be varied. Thusin Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown an anchor plate 13, which is provided withtwo offset portions 14 and 15 that are substantially of triangular form,starting from a point 16 at one offset portion and at a point 17 at theother, which is in the same plane as the general plane of the plate andwhich extend at a slight angle outwardly, thus forming two somewhatconical-shaped pockets. The anchor plate proper in this instance is alsoof sli htly different form, being merely triangular in shape. Thisconstruction is one which permits the anchor plate to be readily driveninto the ground because of the pointed construction of the offsetportions or pockets and which at the same time serve as a powerfulanchorage to hold the post in place against all forces tending to raiseor displace the same. Obviously the offset or outwardly formed por,

tions being within the general confines of the edge portions of theanchor also serve admirably to strengthen and reinforce the plate andthus enable the successful use of a relatively light plate. As beforestated, although but little metal may be saved in any single post oranchor, the aggregate saving as covered in the production of millions ofposts is very large indeed.

After the post has been driven into the ground, the soil or earth whichhas been somewhat loosened or displaced by the anchor in its movementthrough the earth, finds its way into and becomes hardly packed aroundthe anchor and particularly in the pocket portions thereof.

The offset portions are all within the confines of the edge portions ofthe anchorage and they do not therefor, in any way affect the cuttingfunctions of said edges. On the other hand the offset portions arepreferably brought relatively close to the edges of the plate betweenthe edge portions thereof and the offset portions, even when very thinplate is used.

Again the plate, while it is formed with offset portions is not in anywise cut or sheared so that its inherent strength as an integral pieceis not weakened.

The simple, durable and relatively inexpensive construction of the postherein shown and described will be apparent to those skilled in the artwithout further comment.

I claim 1. In combination, a post and an anchor plate secured thereto,said plate having a struck up strengthening rib thereon extend outwardlyfrom the plane of the plate on one side thereby forming a depressionupon the opposite side, said rib being joined throughout to theremainder of the plate.

2. In combination, a post and an anchor plate secured thereto, saidplate having a struck up strengthening rib thereon, the longitudinalaxis of said rib extending transversely of the post, said rib extendingoutwardly from the plane of the plate on one side, thus forming adepression upon the opposite side, and said rib being joined throughoutto the remainder of the plate.

8. In combination, a post and an anchor plate secured thereto, saidanchor plate being provided with cutting side and top edges and having astruck up strengthening rib thereon and within the confines of saidedges, said rib extending outwardly from the plane of the plate on oneside. thus forming a depression upon the opposite side, and said ribbeing joined throughout to the remainder of the plate.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 31st day ofMarch, 1919.

RAYMOND C, KNOPKIQ

